Digital Perspective Blog

Twitter is nothing new.  Tweet-ups are nothing new.  But the first official Twitter Tweet-up in Spanish in Bogota, Colombia IS something new.

As I was scrolling one of my lists I came across @guidogaona (B-M Colombia Market Leader) rewteeting @laura (Laura I. Gómez, twitter bio: políglota mexicana trabajando en Twitter. las efes: familia, friends, fútbol, films, food, felicidad.) and she tweeted the following: “Acuerdense: Ciento Cuarenta tweetup mañana at BBC Cedritos: http://ow.ly/1ee23 #140bogota” (translation: Don’t forget: one hundred and forty tweetup tomorrow…”  As I looked at the twtvite it said the first official Twitter tweetup in Spanish (see invite: http://ow.ly/1ee23).  Pretty cool!

Update – Esteban Osorio, our digital in Bogota, went to the event http://twitpic.com/171wtw and can expect a recap shortly.

Various countries in Latin America have seen a huge growth in Twitter users, some countries only had a couple of thousand users last year now have hundreds of thousands – Colombia already has over 150,000 users…may seem low, but give it a little more time and let’s not forget that Colombia is the 11^th country with the most Facebook users.

Chile is estimated to have well over 200,000 users – it became an integral communication tool during the recent catastrophe that the country was faced with and is still coping with (I encourage you to please donate if you haven’t already: http://www.google.com/relief/chileearthquake/) – even the Chilean military is using twitter: www.twitter.com/ejercito_chile.  For ongoing updates, follow some of my friends there: @emiliosanfuente, @juanpablotapia, @colonnello.

No need to mention Brazil – they are the country with the second most Twitter users after the US.

So while it may just be a “small” tweet-up – it represents a lot more when you look at the big picture and the rapid adoption rates in Latin America especially in the social space.

Our digital newsletter for May dropped yesterday. Have a read.

I recently chatted with Erin Byrne, Burson-Marsteller Chief Digital Strategist, about the introduction of Burson Digital. To see past About B-M interviews, view the archives view the archives.

Digital Perspective Blog: What is Burson Digital?

Erin Byrne: Burson Digital is Burson-Marsteller’s in-house digital media capability. We are a global team with digital strategists available to every office in our network and a full team of designers, programmers available through regional hubs. The team focuses on four core product and service areas to help clients meet their needs. They are:

Digital Reputation Management – given so much information is gleaned online, it is critical that company’s manage their online reputation. We provide digital check-ups, blog monitoring and influence assessment, blogger and social media outreach, search marketing, and online dialogue development, among other digital reputation management services.

Interactive Experience Design – this is all about creating experiences that deliver desired messages and drive to measurable business actions and includes website design, online advertising, online video, Flash animations, digital advocacy tools, and CRM to name a few.

Social Media and Community Development – it is critical that organizations participate with their constituents in online communities. We work with clients to contribute to their communities and do social media monitoring, applications development, community management and content development.

Mobile Marketing – mobile allows an opportunity to have a persistent presence with stakeholders and we facilitate that through text messaging programs, mobile advertising, mobile application development, and promotions/mobile events.

DP: Why a digital practice?

EB: Communications have dramatically changed and the way people get information has shifted to digital media. From major decisions like who to vote for to simpler buying options, people seek out information online, often through interactions with other people. Mark Penn’s recent InfoShopper study [WSJ article and PDF study] showed that as many as 23% of people even research which shampoo to buy online! Digital media also helps clients reach key audiences with important messages more cost effectively than every before possible. For both the reasons (and many more), we believe that every successful communications program must have a significant digital component. We have made a significant investment over the last three years in ongoing digital competency training and are proud that all of our employees are delivering value for clients via digital media. But, there are still specialty areas where have people who are digital experts and work in the space all day every day is critical. These people live in Burson Digital and partner with colleagues in all of our other practices to help clients generate business results.

DP: What is unique about the new practice and Digital as a whole?

EB: Burson-Marsteller in general is differentiated by our global footprint as well as our integrated approach to client problems, especially given our sister firms including Penn, Schoen & Berland for research, Direct Impact for grassroots, BKSH for lobbying and Marsteller for advertising and print design. Having a global team and broad expertise to draw on lets us bring perspective to digital strategies that make the recommendations more meaningful and ultimately more successful. Also, we are an agency of hard working, hands on executives. We are comfortable with complexity. Organizations today face difficult challenges and we have strategic bench strength in Mark Penn, Karen Hughes, Don Baer, Gary Koops, Josh Gottheimer, Pat Ford and others (I could go on and on!) that is unrivaled. Lastly, we truly believe in education as a platform to meet client needs and grow our business. Digital media is so frequently changing that providing clients with ongoing digital education is critical to their success and ours.

DP: Can you share any plans for Burson Digital in 2009?

EB: We have big plans for this year that are already well under way. We will be launching several new products and services and will introduce new partnerships as well. You’ll have to stay tuned to hear more. In the meantime, you can check out a recent project we unveiled tracking, aggregating and visualizing Twitter discussions for the European Elections. Stephanie has more information on TweetElect09.